UPDATED FEB 2020. Sometimes with everything looking so perfect on social media and in the blog world, it can be easy to think everyone has it all together. I don’t think anyone would be like that with me because I do my best to show the whole picture of life. You get to see the awesome moments, but you also get to see me makeup-free when I’m working and sharing behind the scenes moments in Instagram stories or talking through my stresses on Twitter or in my social media captions. My blog is such an outlet for me, that it just needs to be authentic otherwise it would be too stressful to try and keep up with. Today I’m sharing my biggest blogging mistakes. To be honest, the list could be 10 times as long because I’ve made so many. But, I limited it to 8 just to remind you that hey, we all screw up. I want to also give you a reminder that if you don’t feel like you’ve got it all together, you’re not alone.
Blogging Mistakes – My 8 Biggest Fails As A Travel Blogger
Disclaimer
There are affiliate links included in this post. This means at no extra cost to you, I earn a commission if you book through the link.
1. Bad photo edits
When I started blogging I was brand new to it all and boy did I love to overuse the filters!
Sometimes I look at the earlier photos and just cringe at how embarrassingly overedited they are.
They’re not good in any way.
But, despite how bad they are, I think it was necessary for me as someone who was brand new to taking and editing photos. It allowed me to experiment with different styles until I found what I liked.
I am still always experimenting actually.
One of my worst photos – whyyyyyy?!
2. Thinking I’m not good enough
In my earlier days as a blogger, I compared myself and my work to established bloggers and didn’t ever feel like I was good enough.
I would be hesitant to pitch to companies because I figured ‘why would they want to work with me when they could work with this other blogger?’
That’s not good for anyone trying to accomplish anything right?!
Nowadays, I have tunnel vision for my own work and don’t pay too much attention to what other bloggers are doing really.
I compare myself to me and it’s given me better focus and confidence.
If a brand is a good fit for my audience, I want to be the one to connect the two and I will send a pitch because I’m confident in my abilities to work.
3. A failed merchandise launch
Just a few months ago I launched my KSB merchandise and guess what, it sold ZERO.
ZERO.
Well aside from my uber-supportive dad, but as far as my regular audience goes, absolutely no one was interested in it.
It couldn’t have been a bigger failure.
Was it embarrassing? Yes. Did it make me feel like an invisible failure? Yes.
But did it give me insight to my audience and did I learn how I could do things differently for whatever I launch next time? Yes.
So as much as it was a failure, it helped me learn.
4. Taking things personally
Whether it was the angry comments, snarky comments or radio silence when I needed support, I was guilty of taking things too personally when I started blogging.
I would also be scared to post some things, or even not post some things, because I was scared of the judgment, or worse silence, from others.
I think it kind of goes with the territory when you put so much of your heart into anything, it makes you a little hypersensitive.
Or maybe that was just my mistake? I don’t know.
But I do know that since I let that go and focused on staying true to myself, it has been way more fun to create.
People seem to be more engaged with me as well.
5. Terrible writing
Full disclosure – I’m not a writer or a journalist.
I have zero qualifications for either.
I just started this blog on a whim to help people.
All I had written before was essays and reports, neither of which are interesting styles to read.
They’re probably still average since I moved from Australian English to American English to broken English trying to be understood here in Italy. I am sure it’s full of spelling and grammar mistakes.
It’s certainly more interesting than when I started though and it just came with practice and reading more in my spare time.
Don’t let not being excellent at something stop you from starting – you can always get better.
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6. Trying to be what was ‘cool’
Oh geez, this is embarrassing because now I think ‘how did I ever think that would work out?’
Whether it was photo poses, styles of captions or anything else, I definitely got sucked into creating what I could see was successful on social media or the blogging world.
And now I feel so stupid for ever doing that.
It’s so liberating now that I just do me.
I can’t be the cool or flawless one, I am just my usual awkward self but now I own it.
Sure, I’m not cool. I get fewer likes/features, etc. than when I was being phony.
But I feel better about myself sticking to being authentic and that’s become the most important thing for me.
At the end of the day, I’d rather help people and be appreciated for my own work than for being a clone of what’s trendy.
When I used to only post pictures of the back of my head because its trendy & I thought my face wasn’t good enough
7. Feeling like an imposter
‘What if they realize that I don’t know what I’m doing/not as good as the others?’
One of the blogging mistakes I made was feeling like I didn’t know what I was doing and everyone might figure it out too.
It was another thing that held me back because I was scared to post things, even if they were useful posts.
It’s another thing that dissolved once I really started to just be me.
8. Forgetting the needs of my audience
Perhaps the biggest of my blogging mistakes were the times when I forgot the needs of my audience.
There were times when I had forgotten to put myself in their shoes and write for them.
There were times when I forgot that the needs and interests of a traveler might be different from a resident.
I have a sign above my desk that says ‘how can this benefit my readers?’ and I consult it before I post everything now.
You know what? It’s helped me to serve people much better and to offer useful and helpful content.
Other posts you might enjoy
I hope to have helped remind you that we all start somewhere by sharing my embarrassing blogging mistakes.
Remember that whatever stage of your journey you’re at and whatever your goal is, you’re not alone and the best way to get to where you want to be is by taking the first step.
If you liked this, return the favor by sharing it or following me on Instagram!
For real though, and also, not knowing when you’re going to “make it.” Am I there? I’m making money…not enough to live off of yet but the dollars (pennies?) are here. Also, no one likes buying merch, ever.
Yeah there’s so many milestones, like which one is when I’ve ‘made it’. Haha, I do though!
What a good read! Sorry about the launch of your brand.
I 100% agree on the last tip. You have to listen to your audience!
For sure, it’s the most important thing!
I love it! Thank you for the sincerity. It really is so meaningful to find another blogger who’s trying to stay out of trap of doing what everyone else is doing. I deal with most of these insecurities almost every day, too, and I’m never sure if I’m doing any of it “right.”
Also, where are you based in Italy?? I lived in Milan for the last three years, and will almost certainly be back living there eventually! I’d love to be in touch!
Cheers!
Ketti
Thank you so much! It’s definitely tricky to navigate the blogging world but I really think staying true to yourself is the best plan. I’m in Vicenza at the moment but just about to move to the US.